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December 2, 2008 12:21 PM PST

Nombray lets you cybersquat your online identity

by Josh Lowensohn
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Nombray is a new site that lets you buy vanity domains for your name. The service is aimed at people with very little experience setting up a Web site, letting them "squat" the page while funneling any traffic to third-party services they're already using.

On Nombray's home page, you simply type in your first and last name, and the site will search to see which coordinating domains have been taken and which are still available. From there, you're able to claim available domains for $20 a pop, which gets you a free year of hosting and a page designer with which you can link to various social-networking profiles, such as those for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. These sites, along with any other URLs you plug in, will show up like tabs on the top of the page, and visitors can simply click on them to flip between profiles while the Nombray navigation frame remains.

If you've already purchased a domain through another service (like GoDaddy or Domain.com) you can simply link up to it and have Nombray host the page for $10 a year. This offers a little less than a service like WordPress Premium, which charges $15 a year for custom domain registration and hosting (along with a pretty swell blogging platform). I do, however, like that Nombray keeps a frame on the top of the page so your visitors can quickly toggle between activities--it's a nice touch.


Nombray hosts a page for users with top links to their various social-networking profiles, blogs, or Web sites. It also searches the Web to show if domains using their name are available.

(Credit: CNET Networks)
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